I loved this book, what a great break from my usual fare. The plot was well thought out, it covers a century in the life of a unique house on the banks of the Thames, north west of Oxford in the UK. The characters are numerous and well developed. It's the first I've read by Kate Morton, I'll definitely be looking to read her previous books.

Absolutely wonderful. Shifting time periods, engaging characters, murder, secrets, and so much more! Kate Morton has once again written a brilliant novel.

Morton is one of my “go-to” authors when I am in the mood for a historical fiction/mystery/family secrets kind of read. I tend to love stories with country houses shrouded in a mysterious past. With her latest book, The Clockmaker’s Daughter, Morton does not disappoint. If anything, she has upped her game, weaving a compelling story filled with interconnected characters spanning multiple timelines. Ambitious, yes, but Morton is no stranger to stories that bounce between time periods and narrators. While the story has potentially a few too many characters (and narrators) for my personal liking, it is Birdie Bell, the “Clockmaker’s Daughter” and Birchwood Manor, the country home situated at a bend in the Thames in Oxfordshire, that make this such a hauntingly atmospheric/Gothic read for me. One thing I always enjoy about Morton’s books is that she is really good at pacing the story. The pacing is more leisurely, enabling this reader to settle in, soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the beautiful settings. I also like how Morton strings the mystery along to the very end as the family secrets being revealed are just as important as the mystery. The only downside for me – other than the already mentioned large cast of characters to keep straight – is that some of Morton’s time/narrator shifts left me feeling frustrated and asking, “but what about ____” on a few occasions. A minor quibble as the further information I was seeking was revealed later in the book but “patience is a virtue” doesn’t always translate well for me when I really want to know what happened and don’t want to wait.

Overall, a spellbinding story of mystery, romance, deception and betrayal.

I loved this book! A little slow to start but that’s all part of the magic. Kate really spends the time in the beginning building the characters and the mood. Multiple flashbacks back and forth in time between the characters slowly begins weaving their stories together. As I got further into the book I couldn’t put the book down as the different storylines came together to unravel mysterious buried in history and unique storylines of people that never even knew each other but had become tied together by events throughout history. I adore the way Kate brings her books different storylines together in the end seamlessly but also with surprises and twists you don’t anticipate.

If you're ready for a tantalizing mystery, this is your story. Kate Morton has managed to weave several timelines together with their characters into a whodunnit that will have you guessing until the end of the book.

Every chapter begins with a different voice. How the author manages to tie up all the different storylines is genius. There are so many characters in this book and each plays an unexpectedly important role, so be patient.

One of the best mysteries I've read this year.

Thank you to netgalley for this advanced read! I give it more of a 3.5 rating! No spoilers given!

This is the first novel from Kate Morton that I have read! Her storylines always sound fascinating but for some reason have just kept adding them to my tbr list. So I was estatic to get an advance read of her latest book!
So it starts off amazing. I really like the way it leads up to the main story line. The last 1/4 of the book kept me on my toes. The middle... Well... Let's just say some parts I felt could have been left out.
The book had many many characters and timelines that you have to keep straight. I found as I was reading you are thinking okay this person is on this person's timeline not that person's. So it takes awhile to get used to the back and forth.
But to be honest , this novel made me want to read more from Kate Morton!

This book just had too many characters from too many time periods all trying to connect to an event that happened over a hundred years ago . This Lake House enticed everyone who saw it and it developed its own characteristics . Some of the descriptions of this house and surroundings became repetitive. Events and people became confusing at times . Birdie or Lily was the only character who had substance in this book. The mystery component was overshadowed with too many characters and irrelevant events and descriptions.

Beautifully written book that takes the tales of different people as if they were balls of yarn and weaves them into a moving tapestry of human emotion.

Kate Morton knows what her audience wants, and delivers with this title. Her trademarks are here, with a mystery that flips between current day, 19th century England, but also a few decades in-between. While some readers may be surprised at the number of different perspectives and characters, Morton delivers an impressive novel that will satisfy her readers.

I was very excited to read this book, until I read it. The story was beautiful, yet oh so confusing. I had a hard time keeping up with which era of time I was reading. The chapters with dates were great and less confusing but otherwise I had a hard time reading and that kept from enjoying what I imagined would be a wonderful book.

The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton is a haunting tale about an artist, a manor, and a priceless gem, and the interwoven lives of the manor’s mysterious occupants. I had high expectations for this book as I am a fan of Kate’s previous book The Lake House and trained as an Archivist like one of the characters. With that being said, I was left feeling disappointed with this book. I found it to be extremely slow-paced and the story itself was boring. It was an average whodunnit that really wasn’t all that interesting. I was confused as to what the story was really about? Was it a ghost story? A crime story? A story about a mysterious manor? Birchwood Manor was the main character, so I think it might have been more appropriate to rename the book as such. I felt the story was saturated with too many characters and it was difficult to keep up with them. As other readers have pointed out, it would have been nice if the two main characters didn’t share a similar names- Lily and Lucy. The Eldritch Children seemed last-minute and I’m not really sure why Elodie’s subplot was included since it was left unresolved. The Clockmaker’s Daughter needed a stronger supernatural element, less characters, and a more intriguing central mystery.

Everything is centred around Birchwood Manor - a beautiful old house set on the Thames. But it is so much more. It’s a love story, a ghost story and a murder mystery. It covers the period from the 1860’s to today. And Kate Morton is a master at weaving such a marvellous tale. Her descriptive writing is just incredible. There are a lot of characters to get your head around but all are neatly tied in. I just loved this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Kate Morton returns with her new novel, “The Clockmaker’s Daughter”. Of course, being Kate Morton, she delights a reader with powerful, descriptive imagery and settings, a creative plot and beautiful language, as she spins a delightful historical tale.
In 1862, a group of young people take up residence in “Birchwood Manor”, in hopes of spending the summer creating art and enjoying the beautiful grounds. When a woman is shot, the groups’ dreams are quickly destroyed, and the owner of the house, Edward Radcliffe, flees the country a broken man. Years later, archivist Elodie Winslow comes across a leather satchel containing two very different items- a sepia photograph of a beautiful woman, and a sketchbook. Both the picture and sketchbook seem to have different owners (and be from different time periods in history), yet they also have eerie similarities. Soon, Elodie is traveling to Birchwood Manor to investigate, where she too, is soon taken under the spell of the beautiful and mysterious house.
This novel, as with all of Kate Morton’s novels, was a beautiful read. Long as it is, it was not difficult to read and I breezed through it, fully captivated as always by Morton’s breathtaking settings.
“The Clockmaker’s Daughter” is not a fitting title, though. Although indeed, the Clockmaker’s Daughter is one of the characters in this novel, it seems to be more a tale about the house itself than an individual person. Told from many time periods, from many different characters, in reverse order, it was a bit confusing in places. Although each chapter was labeled with a date to identify time periods, there was multiple characters that each had diverse and entertaining storylines tied to Birchwood Manor itself.
As mentioned, the character list in this novel is multitudinous, but each character brings their own set of charm to the table. The plot, too, has everything one could want- history, romance (many times over), a murder mystery, and even a treasure hunt. “The Clockmaker’s Daughter” had so many plots, it could have been many stories instead of just one, however this also made the novel easy to read.
Fans of Morton will enjoy “The Clockmaker’s Daughter”, for its traditional Morton style and beauty. The ending is extremely satisfying, if not predictable, and brings the tale to a delightful end. A thoroughly engaging read, to be sure.

Reading this book was similar to working with a bunch of random threads and trying to make something out of it. In the beginning, you are so confused as to what you are supposed to do with each of the threads and how they are supposed to come together to create a finished item. The main feeling during this time is frustration - you don't know where the threads came from and where they are going, and THERE ARE SO MANY THREADS! Then slowly, if you don't give up during the frustrating stage, things start to come together. But there are still a ton of threads, and while you are learning what each one does, you are still often confused as to what you are supposed to be doing. Your reward for making it to the end is a completed item. All threads accounted for.

Overall, this was a good book - I love Kate Morton - but all the timelines and characters with similar life events in different decades were confusing! Also, I wasn't a fan of the fantastical element - I grew to accept that character - but I had to stuff away my dislike for it while reading their sections.

I would say that Kate Morton fans should read this - but keep and open mind, and maybe some scrap paper to keep all the timelines straight.

I really enjoyed this book. I found it well written. I als loved the way she would go between different times.

This is an absorbing and complex family saga, with a touch of the supernatural for good measure. Although I might have preferred one or two fewer viewpoint characters to keep track of, the main arc of the mystery (what happened? Where is the fabulous blue diamond?) is still compelling. I wanted to read more about Elodie, the 21st century archivist whose story we begin with, but I enjoyed following all the twists and turns. Maybe just a touch too complex for its own good, but a thoroughly good read overall.

I have just finished reading this book. It has not been one of those that you cannot put down - it is one that I felt I had to put down, every so often, to decide what was happening and why. It is indeed spell binding since it deals with the sort of things that get dismissed summarily. But it is great story telling and the first thing that requires, if it is to be successful, is the suspension of disbelief. A bit like the unspoken pact you make when you take your seat in the theatre, and the show begins, and you allow yourself to wrapped up in the presentation, and disregard the obvious fakery in the props and scenery. Just like going to the magic show: you know that it is an illusion, but you want it to be a good one. We delight in being taken in - even when we also know that if the secrets were revealed we would feel immensely let down. We want to believe.

This book has quite an accurate description in its blurb so I am going to cut and paste that to the end of this review. That way I do not have to worry about inadvertently providing spoilers. But I will say up front that I enjoyed every moment of reading it, and I feel I know about the times and places it describes. It actually covers quite an historic sweep but I have visited some of the places, and know a bit about some of the items discussed. Many I wanted to immediately go look up, just to make sure I was right. For others I was simply content to say to myself "it's a story. It doesn't matter." Well one thing I did look up, because I was certain it didn't exist but - at least according to wikipedia - it did. But is actually very rare, which is why I had never heard of a tuppenny coin. But that is real, and now I think I may go look up some of the other things that made me wonder. Yes, priest holes are a thing, I know that. And the Thames does have locks and weirs on its upper reaches, so it is very much a tamed stream that flows down to the sea.

There's a bit of history, there's quite a bit about art - painting and photography - as well as about story telling and sleight of hand. It is very satisfying. It is easy to recommend but if I tell you anything more I risk giving something more away and I don't want to spoil it. So trust me on this one. Read it and don't do too much jumping to conclusions in the first few chapters. And be aware that the voice of the story teller shifts around between characters as does the time. The dates are made clear on the chapter headings and will help you to keep you bearings, and you do need to keep names in your head.

I really enjoyed this book. Ms Morton skillfully interweaves the past and present to create a poignant story of love and family. There are many little surprises throughout the book, as various events are explained. Well worth reading.

The Clockmaker's Daughter is a book full of such achingly beautiful descriptions of settings and characters, while the story itself reaches out to the reader, grabbing them and dragging them into the pages.with it.
The story spans over 150 years and spins back and forth from the 1860's, the 1920's, the 1940's, the 1960's, and finally, present day, in a way only Kate Morton can do without confusing us, and with clever tricks like the roman numerals on a clock marking the twelve parts narrated by Birdie, the clockmaker's daughter herself, with her vivid life filled with tragedy, love, loss, joy, and her own mysterious ending that nobody seems to have knowledge of.
The setting has colour palettes ranging from the greys of Victorian London, the lovely pastoral colours of the English countryside, in both the past and present, and even the brilliant hues of nineteenth century Inda in part.
The characters are so alive: mousy Elodie, vibrant Birdie, heartsick Edward, homesick Ada and timid little Tip.....so many stories and lives, separate, and yet creating a mosaic of sorts, culminating at the climax to finally answer the question of what happened to the clockmaker's daughter.
Is the denouement somewhat hasty, as it rushes to tie up all the loose threads? Perhaps, but even that is forgiven as the reader is anxious to know the answers to those elusive questions !

I rarely finish a book and find myself reading it again immediately afterwards. This book is one of those rarities.. It is definitely my favourite of Kate Morton's offerings to date, and I have enjoyed them all. I highly recommend it!

***Thank you to Netgalley and to Simon and Schuster Canada for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I chose to read this book on my own and all opinions expressed in this review are solely my own. ***

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

The Clockmaker's Daughter is my first novel by Kate Morton and was excited to read a new author. The beginning of the novel caught my attention but not for long. The story line kept jumping from one time period to another and there were so many different characters that I lost the flow of the novel.